Last week, I participated in PitMad, a Twitter pitch event. It’s one of my favorite pitch events, and I am always blown away by the engaging, funny, and amazing tweets. I actually received three requests from my pitches. (I say actually because I was surprised and delighted that my Twitter pitches received interest.) Today, I received my first rejection from those requests. This is the first rejection I received for this manuscript. It hurts.
One of the worst things about writing is letting other people read your work. This sounds ridiculous because I wrote my book to be read, but allowing others to review/critique my work is painful. I don’t think this part will ever get easier or leave me feeling any less exposed. I’ve yet to figure out how to distance myself from something so personal in order to accept feedback and the inevitable rejections with grace.
I wish I knew the best way to dust myself off and keep going, but every “no” feels like the end. Logically, I know that rejections are part of the process and there will be more rejections to come. In my heart, I want to throw my laptop off the highest mountain I can climb. (I live in CO where a height of 14,000 ft. is achievable.) But, the only “no” that’s final is the one you don’t move forward from, and I’m not a quitter. For now, I retreat back to my happy place, the place that got me here in the first place: writing.
Katherine Laurin 
You’re right, the ‘no’s are so hard. And the fact that your pitch (and the thrust behind your book) is strong enough to have gotten interest during a pitch party where agents are reading HUNDREDS of pitches probably won’t make that ‘no’ sting any less… but try to let it. Because it is a big deal that you got interest, that you got those agents’ attention. Good for you, and Onward!
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Thank you! You’re so sweet. I’m definitely putting my requests in the “wins” column. The first cut is the deepest, right?
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